Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
by JeremyJay22
Summary: A few guardians try to do their job for the Spira Defense Force. Too bad life isn't that easy...


Chapter 1

As Lorne looked up at the ceiling, he thought, "_What am I doing with my life?"_

A good question; at the age of 18 he had entered the Spira Defense Force, the only job he could find with steady pay. Growing up in Bevelle, seeing the destruction of a whole faith and the world being saved twice is something to wonder at. He needed to get out of there before Baralai made him enter New Yevon or something like that. The SDF traveled around the world after the whole Vegnagun incident acting as a protective force for citizens. Hunters and Scavengers were a thing of the past.

He looked at the clock on the wall….._6:30 AM…._fifteen minutes until he had to get up and finally get his new assignment. Lorne never thought of himself as special, in any aspect. 6 foot, glasses, straight black hair, nothing out of the ordinary. He had spent a year or two in Luca and Besaid, not too exciting, not like any monsters pop up there much. He was sent there most likely because he was rookie…..suddenly the door banged open.

"ASSIGNMENT DAY, GET UP!!!" Commander Stall shouted. Lorne casually jumped off the bed. His friend of 10 years, Bristol, was not so responsive. In fact, after 10 minutes, he was the only one still sleeping.

"Okay, who wants to do it this time?" Commander Stall asked. A daily ritual was to wake Bristol up with some sort of spell. Fred came out of the corner of the room, an evil grin on his face.

"I'll do the honors. Hm what spell shall it be this time…."

"Fred it can only be a level one spell, not much of a selection."

"_THUNDER!"_

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE…."

XXXXX

The 100 or so guardians at the outpost all gathered at the meeting room, eagerly awaiting their new assignments.

"First….Lorne…." _NO, NO, the first assignments were usually the safest places I NEED EXCITEMENT... IT CAN'T BE… AGAIN…._Lorne thought as he sat at a lunch table along side Bristol, whose hair was still somewhat frizzed due to the electric shock he received this morning.

"You are paired with Bristol"….elation sprang up on Lorne's face, _At least it will entertaining. _"And…. Sage…."

The smile instantly faded off Lorne's face. He looked at Bristol, he didn't care very much. "Bristol, did I just hear myself being paired with Sage…"

"Yes, yes you did, now's your chance buddy," Bristol replied with a pat on Lorne's back. Lorne had fallen head over heels for Sage the first time he saw her, the thing was, he could never admit it, so nothing ever…happened. He was not expecting his shyness to leave like that, so if anything it would be awkward.

20 minutes later, the groups had been decided, now they just had to wait for the posted listings of locations. The list went up, and Lorne scanned the list…

LORNE, BRISTOL, SAGE – ZANARKAND

"Wow, we are going to some ruins, with actual monsters, what a refreshing change of pace, right Lorne?" For a second, Lorne didn't realize who was talking to him. It wasn't Bristol's voice, it was…

"Hey Sage," he tried saying as casually as he could. _She is right next to me…this is nerve-wracking…._

"It's good to be paired up with you Lorne, usually I get stuck with some idiot who cannot even launch a spell properly."

"He…he….he…yea…"

"Oh we should get going to the aeroport, the airship is already waiting there for the three of us, let's walk." She playfully grabbed his arm and they were on their way. _She is…touching me?_Lorne thought her shoulder length, brunette hair shined perfectly in the sunlight, her great figure didn't hurt much either. _She smells great…WAIT...what am I, a stalker?_

They reached the group 7 airship, where Bristol already was, and were getting ready for take-off. "I'll check the inventory," Sage said as she walked to the back of the ship. The two men sat down in their seats and checked the controls.

As Lorne's eyes scanned over the various levers and buttons, he took up a serious conversation with Bristol, "So Bristol, you've been with girls before right?"

"Not this again Lorne, if you want my advice, just tell her you like her okay? There is nothing more to it."

"Well I am just afraid of getting rejected…"

"Everyone is, but if you think about it, that's the fun part too, the adventure of love," he replied as he started the take-off maneuvers and contacted the control room.

Sage re-entered the room, "Everything's in order, ten potions, three mega-potions, an elixir, ten remedies…"

"Okay time to get this baby off the ground," Bristol said with enthusiasm. A few seconds later, the familiar rumbling of the engine vibrated throughout the corridor and control room of the ship. They were off, little did they know, this was more than a simple defense mission…

XXXXX

Two men sat in a poorly lighted room. One eyed the control switch in his hand.

"How much longer will you need?"

"It is nearly operational, but more tests are needed."

"Answer my question."

"A week?"

"My god, I pay you that much gil for a reason, not to lounge around all day."

"We've been trying our best with the tech—"

"Don't give me this bullshit, I have got you the best there is. Now have it done in three days, or else…things will change."

"But—"

"I SAID THREE DAYS! NOW GET OUT!"

The technician slowly walked out of the room, clearly frightened for his life. The man in the chair, eyed the room around him. The big screen in front of him suddenly lit up.

"General, we have an incoming ship, SDF, from the markings."

"Hmmmm, find out who is on it. You can hack their database can't you?"

"Yes, yes we can. Since the technological turnover, we can nearly hack anything."

"Get back to me soon."

"Yes, sir."

_This should be fun, the SDF getting here could be a problem though. I cannot lose all of this work for a couple of guardians. _The man got up and went to the controls of the big screen, and hit the combination 3-3-3.

Suddenly the screen came to life. A man with a gray grizzled beard came onto the screen. "Sir, we were requested?"

"Yes, Tyler, you were. We have a SDF airship heading towards Zanarkand. I need you to get rid of it. Immediately."

"But sir, I thought you wanted no traces of evidence, if they find out—"

"Tyler, things change, this is a matter of the utmost importance. These petty guardians cannot get anywhere close to the project." Suddenly a little green box popped in at the bottom-right of the screen. "I have to go Tyler, I trust you will have this taken care of?"

"Uh, yes, sir."

"Tyler, I do not want to hear from you again until they are dead. Do not fail me."

He quickly clicked on the flashing box.

"Who are they?"

"Sir we see three names: Bristol Carver, Sage Irsay, and Lorne…"

"Lorne what?"

"They don't have his last name on record."

"What?...Ignore that. We are going to eliminate them."

He shut off the screen. It took his only a few seconds to recognize why one of those names seemed familiar.

XXXXX

Lorne and Sage had gotten to the roof of the airship while Bristol was flying it. They sat and marveled at the endless sunset.

"Hey Sage…"

"Hmm…yea?" She said in a half hearted tone.

"I have to tell you something…"

She now paid full attention to Lorne, turning her face and whole body towards him. _You know, he is kinda cute.._

"I…I…um…"

_WHOOSH!_ Chains with spikes at the end shot up from the forest below and hit the ship hard. Sage and Lorne nearly slide off the deck if it hadn't been for the handrail. They quickly jumped in the elevator and pressed the button labeled bridge. When they entered Bristol was panicking.

"We are under attack as you can tell…" he tried to say in a calm tone.

"Any idea who?" Sage said as she entered one of the control seats and manned some of the controls.

"Wait…" Lorne said quietly as he took his seat. "Chains, spikes…"

"ROCKETS COMING NOW! I'M SWINGING LEFT, HOLD ON!"

They quickly pulled their belts on and braced themselves for a crazy ride. The ship almost did a full flip before Bristol brought it back under full control.

"Who the hell do these people think they are? Firing rockets at us? We didn't even get a security briefing about hostile forces in the area!" Bristol noted as he frantically tried to steady the ship.

"I am seeing a hole in the engine room. Someone needs to go fix that," Sage reported.

"I'll go," Lorne responded. He hurriedly ran through the corridor and into the elevator, hitting the engine button. The door opened ten seconds later and a puff of fresh air hit his face. Fresh air was not supposed to be in the engine room. A spike had lodged itself into one of the walls. Lorne had an idea. Freeze and smash the spike.

"_Bilzzara!" That should do the trick. _He then took out a small knife and smashed the pieces of spikes into small chunks of ice. He quickly grabbed a piece of metal off of the floor and used a fire spell to wield it back to the wall. It didn't look pretty but had to do. Just then another spike hit the opposite wall, sending Lorne tumbling.

"God dammit, who are these people…" He went over to the spike trying to recreate the magic from earlier. But something caught his eye. The markings on the spike…_wait…when Summoner Yuna's guardians broke into Bevelle._

_A chain…spikes…rockets…this writing…_

_Al Bhed…_


End file.
